Between the Covers

Softcover. Nearly square octavo. Stitched printed and decorated wrappers. Ownership signature of John Oakes of Bloomfield, New Jersey, various ink doodles, corner of one leaf neatly cut away, very good. Oakes, apparently a young student, used this blank book to copy phrases, presumably as penmanship exercise, copy poems, make a drawing of a ship, and other purposes, signing the books in several places and dating it variously between 1833-34. Oakes was the son of Thomas Oakes, a consulting engineer and millwright for the Philadelphia Board of Water-Works who was later made superintendent of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and the brother of David Oakes, who became a successful manufacturer of woolen goods in Bloomfield. Handsomely printed wrappers using several decorative devices.

Item #395346